Johan Braakensiek door Albert Hahn Possibly 1911

This is Albert Hahn’s portrait of Johan Braakensiek, made with ink on paper. The high contrast palette and tight mark-making give it a striking boldness. You can feel the artist's hand, his decisive lines forming an image that's both representational and abstract, like a process of distillation. Up close, the dots on the bow tie are perfect and the weight of the lines in the sitter's hair gives a sense of movement. It's not just about depicting someone, it's about building a world, a feeling, with the tools at hand. The dark backdrop isn't just decoration, it's like an atmosphere that pushes the portrait forward, making it more intimate, more present. Thinking about other artists, someone like Kara Walker comes to mind, using silhouettes to tell stories. Here, Hahn uses line in a similar way. Art is always in conversation, isn’t it? Each work a response, a question, a continuation of something begun long ago.